Yet despite everything, Sun Yijie didn't wake up. He merely furrowed his brows, his face twisted in agony.

It seemed the physical pain had plunged him into a nightmare.

In any case, the three previous doses of drugs had completely drained him, leaving him utterly exhausted.

Xia Xiaomei's expression remained calm as ever, but beneath that calmness simmered a madness-filled indifference.

Seeing that Sun Yijie hadn't awakened,

she said nothing and left the bedroom for the kitchen, opening a cabinet there.

Surprisingly, the kitchen cabinet she opened

contained nothing but various brands of salt.

She took out five or six packets and brought them to the bedroom.

Then she tore open one packet and, mimicking the Salt Bae trend from TikTok, grabbed a handful of salt and let it cascade down her elbow

before sprinkling it over Sun Yijie's muscular body like seasoning beef.

How painful is salt on wounds?

Excruciating. Absolutely excruciating.

Just how painful?

Heh heh heh.

Sun Yijie, who hadn't woken from the countless cuts made by the art knife earlier,

was now jolted awake by the sheer agony.

The moment he regained consciousness, he let out a pained scream.

To his horror, the intense pain didn't fade upon waking - it grew worse.

The sensation was increasing exponentially.

His mouth twisted grotesquely as he forced his eyes open.

Instinctively, he tried to sit up and examine the source of his pain.

He felt he needed to check his entire body, as the searing pain seemed to come from everywhere.

Was this from overexertion?

But his attempt to rise only moved his neck and head -

his powerful, muscular body remained completely unresponsive.

"What?! What's going on?!"

Sun Yijie screamed in terror at the sight before him.

What had happened to his body? Why was it covered in blood?

And wasn't that ugly freak standing by the bed Xia Xiaomei?

What were those white crystals she kept sprinkling on him, copying that Salt Bae guy?

"You're awake?"

Engrossed in her salt-sprinkling, Xia Xiaomei noticed the vibrations from the bed

and turned to see Sun Yijie's shocked eyes staring back at her.

"What are you doing?! Xia Xiaomei?!"

Sun Yijie struggled violently against his restraints.

He couldn't see his feet, but turning his head revealed his left and right hands

cuffed to the bed with white handcuffs.

No matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't break the cuffs or contort his hands

small enough to slip free like some bone-shrinking martial artist.

His frantic struggles only made the metal cuffs cut bloody grooves into his wrists and ankles.

It was useless.

Not to mention the sturdy ropes binding other parts of his body,

leaving him completely immobilized.

"AAAAAHHHH!!! COME ON, MY MUSCLES!!!"

Sun Yijie pinned all his hopes on the muscles he took such pride in.

This man who had confidently claimed he could knock out Tyson and Ali

now lay spread-eagled and utterly helpless.

"Stop struggling. It's pointless,"

Xia Xiaomei said calmly.

Abandoning the Salt Bae imitation,

she simply tore open the salt packets

and poured them directly onto Sun Yijie's body.

All five packets.

After emptying them,

she used both hands to spread the salt evenly across every inch of his body.

Whereas before the scattered salt had been enough to wake him,

now five full packets covered every wound.

The resulting agony made Sun Yijie stop struggling and simply scream in torment!!!

"Stop! Stop torturing me! Xiaomei! Do you have any idea what you're doing to me? Did I wrong you somehow? Why are you doing this?!"

Sun Yijie convulsed in pain, reduced to begging,

though he couldn't fathom what he'd done to deserve this.

Never could he have imagined that after the nightmare of being chased by a brutal assailant -

which he thought was the worst possible scenario -

he'd wake to something even more horrifying.

"You didn't wrong me,"

Xia Xiaomei replied.

Tears of pain streamed down Sun Yijie's face as he shouted,

"No? Then why are you doing this? Are you some kind of psychopath?!"

Xia Xiaomei's face remained impassive as she mused,

"Psychopath? People have called me that before. I rather like it."

Sun Yijie completely broke down then.

The Xia Xiaomei before him now seemed like a different person entirely.

The one he'd known had been a love-starved, wealthy ugly duckling -

eager, simple-minded, and easy to manipulate.

This version was pure cold-blooded insanity,

without a trace of her former smile.

"Let me go! Right now! If I die, you'll get the death penalty! Life in prison!"

Sun Yijie roared.

Xia Xiaomei wordlessly left the bedroom.

Sun Yijie thought she'd gotten scared - after all, murder was illegal.

But his soul nearly left his body when she returned

carrying an armful of salt packets, clearly with no intention of freeing him.

"AAAHHH! HAVE YOU GONE COMPLETELY MAD?!"

Sun Yijie had always considered himself an expert on women.

Never could he have imagined one would torture him

right after being intimate with him.

What the hell - had he stumbled into some psychopathic woman

straight out of a movie or novel?

Even though Xia Xiaomei called herself a psychopath, Sun Yijie refused to believe it!

He refused to accept he could encounter such a deranged woman!!!!

"Wait! Did that boss send you?!"

Sun Yijie suddenly thought of the married woman's husband,

though he doubted Xia Xiaomei was part of some revenge scheme.

He truly couldn't think of how he'd offended her.

As she sprinkled more salt, Xia Xiaomei said, "No."

"Don't bother guessing."

"I'm doing this for no reason. We have no grudge."

"Like you said earlier - I really am a psychopath."

"I enjoy this. I take pleasure in it."

"Understand?"

Her tone remained perfectly calm as she spoke,

which only made it more devastating.

Sun Yijie would have preferred her to say it with a sinister expression -

this detached demeanor was far more terrifying.

More horrifying.

"Please, let me go! Xiaomei, even one night together creates bonds! I'm begging you - just free me and I'll do anything! I'll be your dog! Anything you want! I'll even kill for you if that's what you want!!!"

Sun Yijie broke down into hysterical sobs.